This is a blast from the past. Below is our original page from circa 1997. We archive it here for our own history and as web history. We have grown as a family and as 'net users since then. To the right here are some links to our current projects. If its not what you expected then please use the Google search here: Enter your search terms Submit search form	Drabwell.com Home Page. Amy's newest project as a Millionaire WAHM. Eric's project as an online entrepreneur at www.3rdRockShop.com Family Geneaology Wonderful Photogifts at one of our online stores

In the beginning.......

Eric lives in Sydney, Australia and is a school teacher.....during 1996 his school got involved in using the internet for school purposes. This got Eric interested in the Internet and around about June or July Eric met a girl called "Beth" in Chathouse. At the time Eric was in disguise as "Eck"..... "Beth" was aka Amy a student who lives in Louisiana USA...... it was around the time of Amy's birthday so it must have been late June when they first bumped into each other and Amy said to Eric...."Why don't you email me....." SO Eric did.....
 

They exchanged emails for about 6 months on a reasonably regular basis (2 or 3 times per week).....and continued to enjoy light hearted fun in these emails for the rest of 1996. All this time they continually said to each other... "Gee it would be good to Chat again in Chathouse......" But despite great efforts on both parts.....they never managed to get it together again.........until........
 

In January 1997..Eric read a magazine and read of a chat program called PowWow and how wonderful it was..... he found it at Tribal and logged on....he soon found a nice person to chat to called Zoe.....Zoe was a whiz at PW and soon showed Eric a lot of the tricks....and she also told him to get hold of some other software called ICQ.......ICQ allows users to know when their friends are online....very useful!!!!!!!
 

Eric was still very keen to get to chat with Amy again.....and sent her the info regarding PW and ICQ.....emails continued for a couple of days while Amy and Eric resolved the other great problem of their lives........TIME ZONE differences.....errrrkkkk.......+3+12.......-3-12.......yyssw......and then.......
 

For the first time in more than 6 months that they were actually able to chat with each other!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!! It was great ....they chatted for hours..and soon discovered that PW had some other great functions.....they could TALK to each other!!! Not just type!!!! Yippee!!!!! Eric thinks that Amy sounds so cute.... and Amy thinks the same of Eric......they talked and talked and talked......and then one day.....Amy went away......
 

......with some friends to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.....and it was about then that they both realised how much they missed each other..and how much they were looking forward to being back in contact with each other.......hmmmmmmmm....
 

SO Amy came back to Ruston....and it didnt take long for Amy and Eric to discover that they were in love!!!!! Now, what to do about it.....
 

A plan was hatched to spend some time together in October 1997. And the organisation began......gee October was a long time off!!!! So.....some quick thinking and planning about $$$$ decided them both that they really NEEDED to see each other in June/July 1997.....YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

SO they DID!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!
 

And on Friday June 27th 1997 Eric flew to Louisiana to meet Amy for the first time face to face.....WOW......and it was great!!!!! 
And it was soooooooooooooooo good!!!! It was better than they both could have possibly hoped!!!!! WOW!!!!
They spent two days in Shreveport and started to get to know each other. During this time Eric met Amy's Dad, Jerry and also met lots of her friends. Tony,Yzell, Nicole and Harv, Clay and Dean. Spending time together and getting to know each other was wonderful in Shreveport. They went to a casino and also to a bar to meet Harv and Nicole. Clay and Dean took them out to dinner.....El Chico's Mexican YUM!! A special visit to Smmmmmmmoch Alley too!
 

On Sunday 29th June Amy took Eric to Ruston. Ruston is a nice town with a great University there...LA Tech. Amy took Eric to see the Tech and he got to see his first squirrels..WOW!!!! A real live squirrel! And they are so cute!!! Mind you Eric was thinking that Amy was real cute at this time too!
Amy took Eric to lots of her favourite places in Ruston...like Stows where he played pool with Bert....and the Lincoln Parish Park.. ..where they fed ducks and walked and talked.....nice!!! Another day they just got up real late and then went out late.and ate supper at 3.00am.....well.....why not!! lmao
 

Lots of fun times in Ruston....Sarahs Kitchen.....eat there!!! YUM!! Outback Steakhouse in Monroe.....Aussie tucker!!!! hehehehe And Chelseas Pub with the Steve O'Neil band......HEY!!!!!!!! (hehehe You had to be there to get the joke!! lmao)
 

Eric and Amy had so much fun in Ruston...and then on Thursday 3rd July they went to Coushatta....Amy wanted to introduce Eric to her Granny and her brother Steven. It was great.....they all chatted and got on so well. That night Amy and Jerry cooked Fried CatFish...oh wow...it was sooooo good!!!!
Jerry and Eric got on real well and talked for ages and ages....Jerry is so knowledgeable about the Civil War and other things to do with Louisiana. Eric really enjoyed this time. And on Friday 4th July Amy Jerry and Granny took Eric for a long drive to some of the sites of Coushatta. They visited the Lock and Dam and the Grand Bayou reservoir. Eric got to see his first cotton fields and have a wonderful day with Amy and her family!
 

That night seeing that it was the 4th of July the Coushatta courthouse was all lit up.Amy let Eric drive to the courthouse.....strange sensation driving on the opposite side of the road.and sitting in the opposite side of the car! They all had some great Crawfish for supper and then Amy and Eric went to the Cherokee Bar to hear some music and to meet George.....they had sooooo much fun...and they danced.....only once...But it was soooo nice!!!!! They danced to Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight mmmmmmmmmmmmm...................... It sure was!!!!!!!
The 5th July found Amy and Eric travelling to Alexandria to have celebrate Amy's niece Patricia's 7th Birthday!!!! A lunch at Mc Donalds was the order of the day ..and it was so good.....Eric got to meet Tecky and Bill..... their children Courtney and Christopher. After lunch at Alex....they drove back with Trish to do some shopping In Alex mall and then back to Coushatta via some of the Plantation Houses....what a nice drive....
 

Later that night....Amy and Eric were enjoying some quiet time alone when all of a sudden Eric said to Amy..we need to get on the computer and get onto the internet. Amy lloked at Eric as if he was mad..... "Why??....you are here!!! We are together." He said "Yes!! we need to get on the net!!!!".... So they logged on and Amy handed Eric the kbd....he Typed in a URL...and of course got it wrong!!! He always does! And then he got it right..... it was a set of web pages that he had made before he came to visit......they were special pages!!!!!!!!!
 

And Amy said YES!!!!!!!!!!! (BTW Eric's actual proposal is hidden on the last page that you come to.....see if you can find it!)
 

The next day was Sunday 6th July and Amy spent a lot of the morning on the phone sharing their good news of their Engagement with some of her friends. Eric spent the morning FLOATING!!!! hehehe..After lunch they headed to New Orleans and drove thru the most torrential rain..WOW!!!!! It was BIG rain!!!!!!! A nice night spent staying at Lee and Jeff's place in NO was a welcome rest after the drive in the rain! Thanx guys!!!
 

A short drive from Lee and Jeff's place to the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza in Poydras St. Amy and Eric went shopping in Bourbon St and had lunch in Hard Rock Cafe. Walked along the banks of the Mississippi and thru Jackson Square....it was so nice!!!
The next day was the day of tours....Aquarium of the Americas followed by the Zoo.......oh well....NOT followed by the zoo......too wet in the afternoon....but gee wasnt the Aquarium good in the morning!!!!! Amy and Eric even learnt how to pet a SHARK!!!!! WOW!!! Something that will surely come in handy in time to come.....one never knows when the opportunity to pet a shark will arise! lmao......Its easy really.....just use two fingers!!!!!!
 

Later that night after resting for a while and writing Postcards Eric and Amy went for a late night supper to Pat O'Briens on Bourbon St. They had Natchos and Alligator Bites.....The Natchos were great...the Alligator a bit chewy!! hehehehe The company SUPERB!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Wednesday 9th was therefore going to be the zoo day after postponing from the day before......hmmmmmmmm look at this rain......They decided to grant everyone else a rain free day by NOT going to the zoo themselves...and it worked....hardly a drop of rain and a good days shopping instead....and WOW....what a walk!!!!!! All over the French Quarter and a great hour or so in the Rhythm and Blues Club listening to some good music. After getting back to the Hotel it was off again on the Dinner Cruise on the Natchez. ahhhhhhhh What a nice Night.....very romantic...and very relaxing....some Jazz playing.....and the sunset......
 

It was then time for Amy and Eric to head off to Biloxi Mississippi to visit the Jefferson Davis memorial at Beauvoir. What a great place......very interesting and full of descendants of Jeff Davis's squirrels!!!!! They had a great time there and enjoyed their walk through some of the South's most poignant history.
Amy then wanted to introduce Eric to Aunt Maureen.......what a nice lady. They chatted for hours....it was great. She is such a nice lady!!! Eric cant wait to meet her some more and talk some more...Amy gave Aunt Maureen a BIG hint about their future.....hehehehehe.....oh well, everyone was very happy!!!
 

That night Amy and Eric drove back from Biloxi to Coushatta.....and spent their last night together for this trip..........................................
 

On Friday 11th July Eric Packed and Packed and Packed...hehehe.....and thought a lot about missing Amy in the weeks ahead....and played with Kittens and packed and packed......lmao lmao..and then.......
 

It was time to go....And a last Hug and Kiss at Clay and Deans place..........and then off to the airport.....
 

The Story is continuing NOW as you read.....
 

Amy will be visiting Eric in Sydney in October/November .......
READ about Amy Down Under
Eric will be going back to visit Amy in April 98...........
Amy and Eric will be MARRIED in Coushatta Louisiana on 10th July 1998
After Honeymooning in Japan Amy and Eric lived in Australia for 18 months. Lots of fun there!!!

The end of 1999 brought to a close the time Down Under.... for now..... and meant that it was time to pack up (are we always packing??) and head on back to Louisiana. Amy went back a few weeks early to surprise everyone and left Eric to Pack up. While they were seperated Amy discovered that Eric had given her a WONDERFUL going away gift. Yes.... they were pregnant!!!!! PW to the rescue again. Lots of chat and excitement!!!!!!

Eric arrived in Louisiana early February and got straight to work with Amy establishing a business for them both and the  baby to come. Coushatta.net was the beginning. A local community resource of Computer Services and Community News and Information for the North Louisiana town of Coushatta.

The work rolled in and Eric and Amy were busy. Baby Lauren Emily Drabwell was busy growing and was born on September 6th 2000. Her website has some nice pix.

With a growing family now Eric looked for further opportunities to grow their business. www.CafeBytes.com a nationwide ISP was born. Eric, Amy and Lauren are now able to offer dialup access in over 2000 locations across the USA thru their company CafeBytes.com

What does the future hold for Eric, Amy and Lauren...... well only time will tell.

The Story continues......